Breakdown of Urheilu on ollut elinikäinen elämäntapa lapsuudesta lähtien.
olla
to be
lapsuus
childhood
urheilu
sports
lähtien
starting from
elämäntapa
the lifestyle
elinikäinen
lifelong
Questions & Answers about Urheilu on ollut elinikäinen elämäntapa lapsuudesta lähtien.
Why does the word for childhood take the -sta ending in lapsuudesta lähtien?
The postposition lähtien means 'since' or 'starting from', and it always requires the word before it to be in the elative case (the -sta or -stä ending). This case choice reflects the idea of an action extending 'out of' a specific starting point in time.
Could I use the postposition pitäen here instead, forming the phrase lapsuudesta pitäen?
Yes, lapsuudesta pitäen is grammatically correct and means the exact same thing. Both postpositions are used for starting points. However, lähtien is much more common in everyday spoken and written Finnish, while pitäen can sound slightly more formal or traditional.
How is the compound word elämäntapa constructed?
Why is the phrase elinikäinen elämäntapa in the basic nominative case rather than the partitive?
In Finnish, when describing a subject using the verb olla (to be), a singular, countable noun takes the nominative case. Because a 'lifestyle' is a singular countable concept here, it stays in the nominative. If it were an uncountable concept like 'energy' or 'love', it would require the partitive case.
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